03:19 - Redn1ghtThe first thing I heard while listening to that song was... "Wait... No way... FINAL COUNTDOWN! Oh shit you trolls."

03:17 - deadoneNo, I didn't pick that up which is bizarre given that Final Countdown is such a distinctive song and yes From Beoynd does sound like it now! It did sound familiar but I have put it down to genre! :P

03:17 - Redn1ghtThe melody is exactly the same in From Beyond right after the solo for example. xD

03:13 - Redn1ghtI was just pointing out my (Typos in here.) That I fixed. Sleepy atm. :P

03:11 - Redn1ghtI meant that title song in the Enforcer album sounding exactly like Final Countdown. Compare: [link] to [link]

03:11 - deadoneAs for typos, feel free to volunteer for an editor's position at MS.

03:09 - deadoneCause I've never listened to that Europe album save the title track.

Terminal Press and Nuclear Blast Records have teamed up for one of the most brutal comics of the year with "Dimmu Borgir: Dark Fortress." This is the first in a series of books influenced by the lyrical, artistic and musical concepts from Nuclear Blast's polarizing roster of bands translated into the comic medium by the creative teams at Terminal Press.

Three reluctant men are chosen to quest to the Dark Fortress in a desperate attempt to protect their land from a growing evil. Despite a legend warning that the harsh land built upon lava fields is actually the gateway to Hell, they make their way across the treacherous path, encountering horrors, madness and death along the way. The three men will either survive the journey and learn the secret behind the legend of the Dark Fortress, or meet a most gruesome demise.

"Dimmu Borgir: Dark Fortress" utilizes the artistic vision and lyrical themes of the biggest Black Metal band in the world, DIMMU BORGIR, to create a powerful and thought-provoking fantasy horror comic book.

"I am artistically influenced and more passionate about metal music than any other genre or medium" says Terminal Press publisher and writer Brian Ferrara. "This is a project that I have always wanted to do and have thought about for years. I wanted to bring metal bands into comics in a way that would do them justice. These are books for fans of the bands, but they will also be able to stand on their own."

A "Dimmu Borgir: Dark Fortress" preview book containing original artwork and pin-ups created specifically for this edition will be available as a San Diego Comic Con Exclusive at the Nuclear Blast Records booth (#116). The Limited Edition print run will only be available at the convention and through TerminalPress.com.http://www.terminalpress.com/

"Dimmu Borgir: Dark Fortress" will be available later this year from Terminal Press. A promo image is available here.

A band which has an own comic? Sounds strange and even commercial in my opinion, but I will not judge anything before I have seen the final result. Maybe we will read soulless rubbish or a fascinating masterpiece.

1) For god sakes, stop acting like Dimmu have been some underground secret until now.

2) Its a fucking comic book, I see it as a collaboration of art forms, artwork inspired by the music. I'm actually shocked some of you people are dumb enough to nit-pick it that bad, and that you somehow equate this as a super-commercial sell-out move, its fucking comic books, not cars - I doubt Shaggy will be looking at a multi-million royalty payout for this one, and most comic book series usually keep a cult following until someone makes a movie out of them, so outside of the regular Dimmu promotions, and the actual comic publisher, I doubt you'll be seeing many ads for this one.

But you know, no one flips out this badly over the fact that Danzig actually frequently guest-writes for a comic book.

Personally, being somewhat of a comic book geek, I think this fits quite well, the dark imagery and the over-the-top type theatrics will transfer well onto comic book artwork. I would probably get an issue if it were easily attainable, despite not being a Dimmu Borgir fan.

It's true that commercial moves are nothing new, coming from Dimmu Borgir. This band is as commercial as Black Metal (some people call it BM, though it's not BM at all from my point of view) can be.

That being said, people who think releasing comics, selling condoms, having shoes identified to your own band, etc are correct moves for a metal band....
Well, if you think like that, you have a commercial, mainstream-ish mentality. You accept every kind of lame bullshit too easily.

Metal is supposed to show a certain level of opposition to society, of criticism towards it. To promote liberty of thought and individuality.
Sorry, but bands who start to sell their asses with all kinds of lame things outside of music loose my respect completely. Posters and t-shirts are correct but many bands push it way too far in terms of marketing nowadays and it makes them look quite ridiculous.

As for those things being art...A comic can be art if it's done very well, but chances are high it will only be a cash grab with barely any artistic value. And I don't see any art in condoms or shoes, only a selling product.

Perhaps I'm an old close-minded metal purist to think like that, but when metal walks hand in hand with the capitalist society, I don't see it as a good thing.

1) For god sakes, stop acting like Dimmu have been some underground secret until now.

2) Its a fucking comic book, I see it as a collaboration of art forms, artwork inspired by the music. I'm actually shocked some of you people are dumb enough to nit-pick it that bad, and that you somehow equate this as a super-commercial sell-out move, its fucking comic books, not cars - I doubt Shaggy will be looking at a multi-million royalty payout for this one, and most comic book series usually keep a cult following until someone makes a movie out of them, so outside of the regular Dimmu promotions, and the actual comic publisher, I doubt you'll be seeing many ads for this one.

But you know, no one flips out this badly over the fact that Danzig actually frequently guest-writes for a comic book.

Personally, being somewhat of a comic book geek, I think this fits quite well, the dark imagery and the over-the-top type theatrics will transfer well onto comic book artwork. I would probably get an issue if it were easily attainable, despite not being a Dimmu Borgir fan.

Hell, That was the smartest post here. I really mean it.
But remember the trends: Dimmu sucks, In Flames sucks, COB sucks, everything not tr00 sucks

It's true that commercial moves are nothing new, coming from Dimmu Borgir. This band is as commercial as Black Metal (some people call it BM, though it's not BM at all from my point of view) can be.

That being said, people who think releasing comics, selling condoms, having shoes identified to your own band, etc are correct moves for a metal band....
Well, if you think like that, you have a commercial, mainstream-ish mentality. You accept every kind of lame bullshit too easily.

Metal is supposed to show a certain level of opposition to society, of criticism towards it. To promote liberty of thought and individuality.
Sorry, but bands who start to sell their asses with all kinds of lame things outside of music loose my respect completely. Posters and t-shirts are correct but many bands push it way too far in terms of marketing nowadays and it makes them look quite ridiculous.

As for those things being art...A comic can be art if it's done very well, but chances are high it will only be a cash grab with barely any artistic value. And I don't see any art in condoms or shoes, only a selling product.

Perhaps I'm an old close-minded metal purist to think like that, but when metal walks hand in hand with the capitalist society, I don't see it as a good thing.

First of all, metal isn't supposed to "be" anything, its music, not a religion. Secondly, Was it ever a consideration that perhaps the band liked the idea of being part of a comic book? Seriously, if someone wanted to put me in a comic book, I'd totally jump on the idea, regardless of the money involved. Secondly, comic books usually run between $5-$10, how much to people spend on t-shirts? And, as I've stated before, an individual comic series doesn't usually pull in shitloads of money unless someone makes a movie or cartoon series about it, and once again, I'd be incredibly surprised if Shagrath starts cashing any million dollar checks because of this.

Hell, That was the smartest post here. I really mean it.
But remember the trends: Dimmu sucks, In Flames sucks, COB sucks, everything not tr00 sucks

Thank you. But this is all opinions on the band aside, people don't seem to be taking into consideration a lot of factors, like how one isn't going to be making huge royalties from a comic book, especially when you aren't the writer or artist making it.

But you are right, people will just jump on any chance to shit on an "untr00" band for reasons other than the music.
So I leave it at this:

First of all, metal isn't supposed to "be" anything, its music, not a religion.

Metal is not a religion, I agree. However, believe it or not, it's not supposed to be too commercially-oriented. Metal artists who respect themselves and care for their integrity don't act like pop artists and sell their ass with every kind of lame bullshit.

If you don't understand this...Well, it's because of such mentalities that Powermetal is pop-ish crap nowadays.

First of all, metal isn't supposed to "be" anything, its music, not a religion.

Metal is not a religion, I agree. However, believe it or not, it's not supposed to be too commercially-oriented. Metal artists who respect themselves and care for their integrity don't act like pop artists and sell their ass with every kind of lame bullshit.

If you don't understand this...Well, it's because of such mentalities that Powermetal is pop-ish crap nowadays.

I don't understand it because it seems to be a rule that you've completely fabricated. Secondly, I will agree with the idea of integrity and not slapping their logo on every possible product, but to say it cant cross over into another art form is ludicrous. I think you really overestimate the revenue of comic books, or the advertising power.

I don't understand it because it seems to be a rule that you've completely fabricated.

It's what we could call an 'unspoken' rule that exists since long ago, so I haven't invented anything. But it seems people under 25 never heard about it or simply don't understand this rule. I guess you need to have seen the 80s to understand...

For a reason I don't really know, young people in general ignore that a clear line between metal and mainstream activities is supposed to exist.

'Thanks' to bands like Metallica, who got worldwide exposure and won the acceptance of mainstream masses, the lines between metal and commercial music has been blurred and lots of people don't realize that metal is normally not about trying to get mainstream exposure and acceptance.

I don't understand it because it seems to be a rule that you've completely fabricated.

It's what we could call an 'unspoken' rule that exists since long ago, so I haven't invented anything. But it seems people under 25 never heard about it or simply don't understand this rule. I guess you need to have seen the 80s to understand...

For a reason I don't really know, young people in general ignore that a clear line between metal and mainstream activities is supposed to exist.

'Thanks' to bands like Metallica, who got worldwide exposure and won the acceptance of mainstream masses, the lines between metal and commercial music has been blurred and lots of people don't realize that metal is normally not about trying to get mainstream exposure and acceptance.

I understand that whole elitist line some of you create, sorry I don't see popular music and good music as mutually exclusive, I judge music for the quality of (get ready, this is a really fresh idea!) - THE FUCKING MUSIC! Whether its metal or not. But you completely ignored the point I was trying to make, the fact that you're putting a lot more weight on the idea of a comic book than you should. They will make less money per unit on these comic books than t-shirts, and less will most likely be sold. Mainstream acceptance? Do you really think your average comic book sells millions of copies? Do you ads on TV for them? Do you see billboards advertising them? No. Like I said, your really putting far too much weight on this.

But you completely ignored the point I was trying to make, the fact that you're putting a lot more weight on the idea of a comic book than you should. They will make less money per unit on these comic books than t-shirts, and less will most likely be sold. Mainstream acceptance? Do you really think your average comic book sells millions of copies? Do you ads on TV for them? Do you see billboards advertising them? No. Like I said, your really putting far too much weight on this.

Sorry if I didn't answer the part concerning Dimmu Borgir and the comics earlier. I don't put a lot of weight on the idea of that comic and just happened to seize the occasion to talk of a more general matter (commercialism in general).

Honestly, it's surely not the first time DB does something we could call commercial. And I agree they most likely won't make a lot of money with a comic. And they won't achieve mainstream acceptance with it either. In this case, I just find the move useless.

I don't care if DB sells comics or whatever, in fact, as I don't like this band and don't listen to it. I don't like their music.

I agree with you that some people make too much of a fuss about DB selling comics. As for me, I seized the occasion to bring a more general point. That's why I said in my first post that such things weren't new in DB's case, then started to talk in a more general matter. Sorry for the confusion it might have created.

Finally, I can ensure you that my first criterion to judge a band is music. I won't dismiss a band only for a small commercial move if the music is excellent. For example, Blinded By Faith sell strings (not guitar strings, underwear for women) on their website. Will I stop listening to them because of that? Surely not, as long as their music is as good as it is now (for my tastes, I mean). Of course, I would prefer if they didn't sell such things. I think it sucks but it's not a sufficient reason to stop listening to a band I enjoy. I don't choose my bands according to a list of 'tr00' and 'untr00' bands like those idiots on Anus.com are doing.

About popular music and good music being not compatible, again I agree with you, in a sense. Popular music can be good indeed. And I say this even though I almost never listen to radio-friendly or commercial music.

What I think, however, is metal is something and commercial music is something else. And I believe both must not be mixed together. I think metal music starts to suck when it flirts with more popular kinds of music.

On a more personal note: I might be a bit of an elitist sometimes, but I'm not a 'tr00 kvlt' person. I would describe me as a metal purist, if you know what I mean. I hate when metal becomes pop-ish or commercial but I don't necessarily hate radio-friendly stuff, I just ignore it usually. The difference between you and me is I draw a strict line between metal and popular (or commercial) music.

And the kind of discussion you and me have on this thread can quickly degenerate, by the way.

Wow, some of the people who post here just make me shake my head at their seemingly wilful narrow-mindedness, or just outright stupidity (at least of some particular comments). Honestly, think about what you're saying, my previously unshakeable faith in the intelligence and integrity of the metal community is disintegrating before my very eyes! Unbelievable that the idea of a comic book (which personally I think will be awesome, despite not liking Dimmu Borgir much at all) could create so much controversy, especially when it sounds like it will actually be a quality product. Likening this to having brand name condoms or shoes is totally irrelevant, as either of those (or similar products) would be an extremely blatant attempt to cash in on the concerned band's popularity, whereas a comic is, as Dr. Rock has so accurately put it, a perfectly legitimate art form in itself, and I personally believe that the combination of the two is an excellent idea, and one with a lot of potential (the new Exodus one also looks pretty sweet). I'm looking forward to any future releases of this type, and if I see one anywhere (unlikely in Australia but a man can dream ) I'll definitely be happy to spend some of my hard-earned cash on it.